2014/49 Authority to dismiss may be delegated (BU)

Until the decision of the Supreme Court of Cassation reported below, contradictory court practice existed regarding the legality of dismissing an employee by a proxy of the employer, other than on disciplinary grounds.

2013/42 Policy of neutrality can justify headscarf prohibition (BE)

Belgian case law has to date accepted a policy of neutrality as justification for prohibiting religious symbols in the workplace. In the absence of clear rules on displaying religious signs at work, an employer commits unlawful direct discrimination on grounds of religion if it dismisses an employee based on her refusal to take off her headscarf.

2013/43 The impact of Ring on European and Austrian practice (Article)

This article reviews and comments on the recent European Court of Justice (the ‘Court’) ruling in the joined cases Ring and Skoube Werge11 (together: ‘Ring’). The Court adopted a definition of ‘disability’ within the meaning of Directive 2000/78 in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Court also held that a reduction in working hours can be a reasonable accommodation. Has Ring brought anything new when compared with the Court’s 2006 ruling in Chacón Navas2?

2013/51 Transfer of employees on reoutsourcing? The employee follows the work... or not? (Article)

The business case for outsourcing is determined in part by whether the supplier will take over employees with the work. In second and further generations of outsourcing contracts this can – at least in a number of European countries - cause difficult discussions - over the heads of the employees - between the old and the new supplier. When does the employee follow the work - and particularly when not? 

<p>EELC 2013/49 Employer may not subject employees to lie detector tests (HU)</p>

An employee in a financial institution was suspected of fraud. He was asked to undergo a lie detector test (‘polygraph’). He agreed and consented in writing to the test. Four days after undergoing the test he was dismissed. He filed for unfair dismissal. Although the court dismissed the claim for unfair dismissal, the employee was awarded damages for violation of his right to privacy. Subjecting an employee to a polygraph examination is an excessive and therefore unlawful method of gathering evidence in respect of which the employer bears the burden of proof.

ECJ 19 December 2012, case C-577/10 (European Commission - v - Belgium supported by Denmark), Miscellaneous, Freedom of service provision

ECJ 19 December 2012, case C-577/10 (European Commission &ndash; v &ndash; Belgium supported by Denmark), Miscellaneous, Freedom of service provision

2013/3 Pay discrimination claimants entitled to see colleagues&rsquo; contracts, pay slips, bonus awards, despite privacy objections (FR)

Employees who feel discriminated against in terms of remuneration can bring a claim before a summary trial judge – prior to any trial on the merits of the case - and obtain disclosure of the pay slips of other employees to whom they compare themselves.

2013/8 Employer breached its &ldquo;good employer&rdquo; obligations by denying one more fixed-term contract (NL)

A tour guide with annual contracts for the duration of one season, who had worked on that basis for about 15 years, could not be denied a new contract without good reason.

2013/24 A requirement for a Christian employee to work on Sundays was not discriminatory (UK)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that a requirement that a care worker work on Sundays was a provision, criterion or practice (“PCP”) that could put Christians at a particular disadvantage but that it could be objectively justified and was therefore legitimate in the circumstances of the case. This meant that the requirement for the employee to work on Sundays was not an act of unlawful indirect religious discrimination.